By Vaida Moore – FAN President and Co-Founder —
It takes a village.
This project has been —and will continue to be for quite some time— very costly. The caregiver is unable to cover any of the veterinary cost. Food, foster homes for kittens, more spay/neuter appointments, barn homes — are very significant needs, over and above the financial cost. The sheer weight of the logistics alone for this project is overwhelming.
FAN’s resources are very limited, and this project is way too big for any one organization to handle. A collaborative community approach is needed.
Feral Affairs Network (FAN) mobilizes all-hands-on-deck, multi-organizational cat rescue operation to help an overrun colony of 200-300+ feral cats in rural South Hampton Roads/Western Tidewater, near the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge.
all-hands-on-deck —adjective
Definition of all-hands-on-deck
: of, relating to, or being a situation in which every available person is needed or called to assist
// “This TNR project is an all-hands-on-deck effort.”
// “Overwhelmingly, we need to mobilize an all-hands-on-deck approach to stopping the rampant cycle of cat reproduction in Hampton Roads,” said Feral Affairs Network (FAN) president and co-founder, Vaida Moore.
The Problem
On January 24, 2022, a rural homeowner reached out to Feral Affairs Network (FAN) for assistance. The designated caregiver desperately needed help with an enormous colony of feral cats that he’d “inherited” from his father’s estate.
The conservative estimate? At least 200 cats on the property, probably closer to 300 or possibly even 400 if counting new kitten births.
What should have been a welcome and pleasant countryside family inheritance turned into desperately seeking a humane way to manage an out-of-control cat colony. And, the caregiver was open to any and all suggestions FAN may have.
On January 30, FAN jumped into action making the first trip to the rescue location. To say we have been overwhelmed ever since is quite the understatement.
Current Status
During our first visit, it was obvious that due to lack of food the health of some of the cats is quite poor. We were shocked and saddened by the many dead and decomposed cats seen scattered around the property.
In the first two (2) weeks alone, TeamFAN rescued 11 kittens, three (3) of which passed away due to severe upper respiratory infections (URI). The remaining eight (8) kittens are in our home-based foster care program, to work on rehabilitation, i.e., improving their physical conditions and begin socialization techniques.
During this same timeframe, 14 adult cats were trapped-neutered (and vaccinated)-returned (TNR’ed).
Until the job is complete, our goal for this location is to trap at least five (5) cats weekly for TNR. The majority of cats in this colony are feral and unsocialized, therefore, the only humane solution for them is TNR.
In addition to the five (5) weekly TNRs, FAN is planning a semi-regular ALL-HANDS TRAPPING DAY, with outreach to other cat rescue groups for their participation.
Next ALL-HANDS TRAPPING DAY is February 25, 2022.
Our goal is to trap 15 cats to fill spay/neuter clinic appointments given to FAN on the following day, February 26th. Due to the enormity of the task, low-cost spay/neuter clinic No More Chasin’ Tails (NMCT) is helping us by offering extra surgery slots for these kitties. [UPDATE: EXCEEDED OUR GOAL & TRAPPED 25 CATS!]
This may seem like slow and steady progress, but it’s a start and will make a dent in the colony’s breeding population. However, at this rate, we will not begin to prevent all pregnancies, and new kittens will ultimately be born.
This location will now add even more numbers to what FAN already anticipated as a terrifying kitten season tsunami.
Next Steps
FAN recommends an operation focused solely on full-circle TNR as the most effective solution for this project. FAN’s Full Circle TNR promise is that the kittens we rescue will be the last born in their colony. For every kitten found, our passionate volunteer trapping team works to identify and to humanely sterilize the community cats (mom, dad, sisters, brothers, cousins, etc.) also found there.
TeamFAN will commit to continuing trapping operations at this location on a weekly basis; we simply have to make a difference here. We’ll continue to rescue found kittens, if they’re old enough to be separated from their mothers, and place them in foster care and, hopefully, ready them for adoption.
Help Needed
This project has been —and will continue to be for quite some time— very costly. The caregiver is unable to cover any of the veterinary cost. Food, foster homes for kittens, more spay/neuter appointments, barn homes — are very significant needs, over and above the financial cost. The sheer weight of the logistics alone for this project is overwhelming.
FAN’s resources are very limited, and this project is way too big for any one organization to handle. A collaborative community approach is needed.
Depending upon the clinic, the cost is $50-$65 to spay/neuter just one (1) community cat. Additionally, FAN has already incurred significant expense due to veterinary visits required for all of the sick kittens found at this location.
In only the first two (2) weeks, the running total of all incurred cost has surpassed $2,000.
Community help is needed immediately, specifically:
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- Cat food — FAN has been the sole provider of food for this location since our first visit. We absolutely cannot continue at this pace (we have other colonies we’re also committed to caring for) and need any and all help getting enough food to these cats to sustain and improve their lives. Visit our Donate page for easy-to-use Wish Lists (Amazon & Chewy) and drop-off locations for in-kind donations.
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- Kitten fostering — Can you commit to take some new kittens into your home in the coming months? It’s inevitable that we will see new colony kittens this spring. FAN does not foster on a large scale; our main operation is TNR. We hope shelters and other rescue groups in the region join us in this project and help take on some kittens. FOSTERING & RECOVERY SPACE NEEDED: Please complete the Volunteer Form.
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- Low-cost spay/neuter appointments — At our current rate, this project could potentially last many months — if not the better part of 2022 — and it would be extremely helpful if more of these cats could be spayed/neutered more frequently.
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- Relocation of cats — The current plan is only a short-term solution for overpopulation control. Barn placements for as many cats as possible would be ideal. The size of this colony will be very difficult for any one caregiver to maintain long-term. While the size will eventually shrink as breeding is stopped (Each female cat can have 3 to 4 litters per year!), it will take a few generations to really see the impact of our work.
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- Logistical support — Anyone willing and able to help trap, transport, and/or hold cats pre- and post-surgery is needed. Any and all help is highly appreciated.
Please let us know if you can assist in any way with what has been (so far) an absolutely overwhelming project. We can only be effective if we all work together. With so many resourceful groups in Hampton Roads, we know it’s possible to join forces to help these cats.
Use FAN’s Contact Us form to immediately raise your hand to help. Or join us by completing our TeamFAN Volunteer Form to become a champion for these and other community cats.
Follow along on Facebook as this massive TNR project progresses.
Feral Affairs Network (FAN) is a 501c3 nonprofit. All donations are tax deductible and applied first to any specific project you may wish to support. Additional funds raised, if any, go directly into the medical fund to save more cats and kittens. Our EIN is 81-4251598, and our IRS confirmation letter may be downloaded from our website. Learn more about FAN’s mission, programs, and read about our positive community impact.
